Standard SC0 protagonist in the UK with Bautista and Razgatlioglu

Yet another weekend under the banner of Ducati red has just come to an end in England at the Donington Park circuit, where the sixth round of the FIM World Superbike Championship was held. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won Race 1 and Race 2, yielding the top step of the podium to Toprak Razgatlioglu only in the Superpole Race. From the beginning of the year, the Spanish rider has won 16 out of the 18 races on the calendar, missing the top spot in only two Superpole Races. Similarly, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) achieved a brilliant brace in the FIM Supersport World Championship where he leads with a 55-point advantage over his direct rival, Stefano Manzi (Yamaha). Outstanding performance for the Pirelli tyres as well, particularly for the standard SC0 rear which, given the low temperatures at Donington, was practically the only tyre used in both categories, proving to be fast and consistent in terms of performance and contained wear on the track’s new asphalt, which is more aggressive on the tyres than in the past.

Fast races even in low temperatures with standard SC0 rear

“At Donington, with the low temperatures and the new asphalt, the standard SC0 rear was the undisputed protagonist and that is only right. Otherwise, if you could use the SCX in every race, having a range of compounds to cover different types of asphalt and weather conditions would be superfluous. However, it is important to point out that the SC0 is certainly not a fallback choice - anything but. It performed extremely well, registered a highly contained level of wear, and was consistent throughout all the races, allowing the riders to push hard from start to finish and maintain an extremely fast pace even in the final laps, as can also be seen by the fast laps done in both categories and by the overall race time which was significantly lower than previous years, with better lap times to the tune of one second. Credit for this undoubtedly also goes to the new asphalt which provides more grip and optimised the surface, but even with rather low temperatures, the SC0 performed extremely well. Congratulations to Ducati riders, Bautista and Bulega, as well as to all the protagonists of the weekend. Now Imola awaits where we will undoubtedly find much hotter weather.”  

• With temperatures consistent with those on Saturday, tyre choice for the Superpole Race was identical to that of Race 1 for the rear: practically all the riders used the standard SC0 with the sole exception of Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing MOVISIO), who confirmed his choice of the SCX B0800 development solution. Not many changes at the front where the standard SC1 was once again the favourite. Choosing the standard SC2 were the two factory Kawasaki riders, Rea and Lowes, who had the SC1 in Race 1; conversely, Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) and Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team) switched from the SC2 to the SC1 for the short race. The race was basically decided on the final lap when Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) managed to gain the upper hand for the win over Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who had, up to that moment, been solidly in the lead for the entire race. Starting from pole position and then slipping back to third place, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) also overtook Rea on the final lap to finish second. So, the Kawasaki riding Brit had to settle for third.
• After the race was red-flagged on the first lap due to an incident involving Rinaldi, Sykes, and Baz, there were 22 laps left to race at the second start. Razgatlioglu started extremely well from the pole position that was obtained thanks to his Superpole Race win, managing to hold onto the race lead until the 13th lap when he was forced to yield to Bautista. So, the reigning World Champion took home Race 2 as well, finishing first ahead of Razgatlioglu, second, and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), finally on the podium after a weekend where he was consistently fast.

• Race 2 was held in slightly cooler weather conditions than Race 1, with asphalt temperatures around 26°C and air temperatures just under 20°C. For this reason, tyre choice was also practically identical, with the standard SC0 selected by all for the rear, whereas for the front, the popular choice remained the standard SC1 in the standard 120/70 size.
• Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) rode a solitary race in the lead for more or less the entire distance, thereby taking home his eighth win and third brace of the season. Behind him, after taking third in Race 1, was Yari Montella with the Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati Panigale V2. Improving his Race 1 final position by one was Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team), finishing third for an all-Ducati podium.

More details on the tyres used in the race are available on the technical sheets attached to this release.